Star Wars: Secrets of the Nomad
by The Beached Whale89
Summary: Sabers clash in this story of a nomad jedi and his journey to become the most powerful force user, but at a hefty price. Due to a sudden loss of interest in my book, i regret to announce it has been discontinued. sorry fans :
1. Chapter 1

The sunshine broke through the clouds over Bespin as a small airship made its way undetected towards the giant hovering city. Its thrusters hissed as it made its decent towards a small jutting landing platform on the citie's edge. As the vessel settled itself down upon the platform, a figure hooded in rags watched from a small crevice in the machinery that controlled the platform. With a grunt, he made his way from his spot towards an open doorway, disappearing from sight. The door of the spaceship opened at that moment, revealing a darkened interior. The echoes of feet hitting metal pulsed around the quiet air surrounding the landing pad as a figure made his way from the vessel and into the bustling streets of Bespin. As the figure made his way towards the streets, he began fumbling with a large device that seemed to be mounted upon his wrist. An image appeared upon it, and the figure paused to examine it. With a slight sigh, he touched the screen and it went blank and dark as he moved onwards. Small lights upon the ceiling of the hallway he walked through illuminated the mans features. He was of a normal height for any human, his face shadowed by slight wrinkles of age. His hair was of a dirty blonde color, its texture slightly ragged with countless amounts of action.

The street had come into full view from the hallway this man had been walking through. The people and aliens from different planets walked, ran, crawled, and slimed their ways towards their desitinations. They were completely unaware of this person who had just emerged from a random doorway in the city. Just as the man made to step out into the street, a large robot using a single wheel to move popped in front of him, blocking him entirely from the crowded streets.

"Name and city registration please." The robot figure asked. The man looked upwards towards the sensor relay upon the droid's head, and made a sigh once again.

"My name is Mahlon, and that is all you need to know." Spoke the man. With a swift movement, he hit a button on his belt, causing the droid to sputter and spew random nonesense. With a large blast of a siren, the droid drove off at full speed towards the center of the bustling crowd, causing mayhem and confusion. As the chaos insued, Mahlon calmly made his way through the people towards the heart of the city.

The noise of the people began to subside as Mahlon's boots clinked against the metal grates of the more formal distric of the city. Walking ever so calmly and well paced, he only stopped every so often to get a glimpse of his surroundings and moved on. As he traveled, the rag-covered figure made its way towards him, hiding every time Mahlon stopped with bated breath, hoping he doesnt get caught.

Mahlon stopped for his final time as he stared towards a small building sitting upon the outskirts of the bussiness district. He raised his arm, and began fiddling with the device mounted on his wrist again. It gave off a low beep, followed by two short deep beeps. With this, Mahlon pulled from his hip a well developed blaster, extremely slimmed from the nozzel to the grip. He suddenly realized that the situation didnt need the weapon and quickly holstered it and made his way into the building.

As he stepped through the door, a figure bolted from an old desk. Mahlon reacted swiftly, running at the figure with a deadly speed. In no time he came upon the creature and swung with a hard left, connecting with it's skull and sending it crashing through piled debri.

"K'lork Mahc. Age seventy-three, height five feet, seven inches. Species Gran, and finally bounty worth." Mahlon stopped speaking as he read off from his wrist mounted device. He sighed and started again. "Twenty hundred credits. Fortunately im not here to collect on such a indecent bounty."

With this, Mahlon reached down towards the crippled form and picked it up from the throat.

"Your wanted dead by my organization, and are worth far less than the price on your head. The man who put up the bounty has also been taken care of by my fellow colleagues. Any last words K'lork?" He said effortlessly. K'lork glanced down at Mahlon, and with an obnoxious expression spit at him.

"Knew you would resort to that." Mahlon said.

"If you knew I would, why didnt you kill me beforehand?" The gran questioned. With a slight flick of his wrist, Mahlon sent the alien flying towards the opposite side of the room.

"Your former experience as a bounty hunter has me itching to fight you hand to hand. Care to try your luck?" Said Mahlon tauntingly. The gran stood from his spot of impact. A grin broke from the wrinkled skin that was K'lork's face.

"Im guessing your with "them" aren't you?" He replied, shifting himself into attack position. "Now i know that I'm not leaving this alive."

Mahlon glanced at the Gran, and heaved yet another sigh.

"Do me a favor K'lork, don't bore me to death. I've better things to do than fight someone using the anchient style of martial arts." He said. K'lork ignored Mahlon's words, and charged with a deafening yell.

With a swift kick towards Mahlon, K'lork began his attack. Mahlon quickly stopped his foot, but no more. In aggravation, the alien attempted to pummel Mahlon with his fists. Left, right, left, right each jab was easily blocked by K'lork's foe. In a desperate move, the gran pulled from his pocket a large vibro-blade knife.

"It's over! You're disarmed and I have the upper hand!" K'lork yelled as he swung wide upon Mahlon. With his signature sigh, Mahlon kneed his opponent in his upper chest, pinning him against the nearby wall. K'lork paused, then began to laugh hysterically.

"So thats it huh? I wasn't even worth the effort to come out here was I? If anything, I truly hope I wasted your time." K'lork coughed out as he grinned slightly at Mahlon. He attempted to speak more, but became overwhelmed with coughing, his assassin yet to remove his knee.

"I did what had to be done. You were a threat to the order, and knew too much of our dealings. You should have forseen this coming." Mahlon said.

"Forseen that they would send their top assassin Mahlon after me? That I could never have anticipated." K'lork retorted using his last breath of life. Blood began to pour from his mouth as his body shuddered one last time. As swiftly as he had planted it there, Mahlon withdrew his knee, and protruding from his knee's armor was a foot long blade with jagged edges, all of it covered in a thick layer of K'lork's blood, along with pieces of his heart.

Mahlon ripped a piece of his victim's clothing from it's body, and used it to wipe clean the blade that had pierced his foe. His job was finished here, and he began to make off when a figure standing in the doorway he had come in caught his attention. The figure was clothed and hooded in rags.

"Be off beggar, I have no need to deal with you." Mahlon demanded as he stepped towards the door. The figure did not budge, but instead began to speak.

"I've been watching you, Assassin Mahlon. I almost had the urge to stop you." The figure said with a sarcastic tone. Mahlon chuckled, but dropped his tone and attitude back to a serious and authoritive tone.

"Really? And yet you did not do anything to stop me. No, you couldn't do anything to stop me. You are but a beggar." He replied. The figure threw off his rags to reveal an old jedi outfit. Tattered and torn, it seemed to have been through many battles, but these details were not Mahlon's concern, for the man had drawn a lightsaber hilt from his side. He did not ignite the blade, but pointed the grip towards the assassin.

"Do not call me a beggar, murderer. You will do well to remember that I am the jedi nomad Xander. Your decision to murder that alien was a terrible and ill thought out one indeed." The jedi growled. His facial features were clear now, as was his height. He was a solid six feet, his face seemed fair, but was marred by a hideous J shaped scar on his jaw. Xander's hair was brown, but was parted by a scar line near his left side. His eyes were worn with thought and constant frustration, consisting of a light orange color.

Mahlon stopped walking towards Xander, and reached for his pistol in its holster.

"Never criticize my work, Jedi!" Mahlon growled back, firing several shots in the process. Xander was the faster, igniting his lightsaber and reflecting the shots back towards his attacker. Mahlon rolled to the cover of a nearby desk. From the desk, he peeked around the corner to view Xander's saber. The color orange pulsated down the entire blade of energy as it's weilder pointed it in a defensive position against any oncoming attacks.

"I've never met a Jedi that could react so quickly to my draw. Tell me, what significance did K'lork have to you?" Mahlon questioned from behind his cover. Xander extinguished his saber and put it away, calmly walking towards the assassin.

"He had come to me looking for protection. He knew he was being hunted, and K'lork promised me a decent sum of money if i could keep him from harm's way. I truly didnt care for the creature, but he didnt deserve to die like he did." Xander finished, reaching his hand down towards the crouching Mahlon. He looked towards the Jedi, then grabbed his hand as he was heaved to his feet.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun had set behind the amber colored clouds of Bespin as the Jedi and the assassin walked from the building from which they had met. The lights of the city were beggining to illuminate the grounds on which they walked and the crowds had subsided to the occasional person walking down the street.

"Mahlon, I have a favor to ask of you." Xander started off after a moment of complete silence. When Mahlon failed to make any aknowledgement of him, he continued. "I need to get off this platform. It has been my haven from the Jedi council and their ever watchful eye, but now has become choked with stale air and other refugees. They clutter in communes now instead of living it out on their own. I've never hated things as much as them."

Mahlon glanced over to Xander and noticed that his fists were clenched tightly at his side. This lasted a very short moment, for he released them and took a deep breath.

"Im sorry, I haven't felt such a surge of anger in such a long period of time." Xander said quietly, almost to himself.

"There is no need to apologize. I have no problem of taking you off planet, but I cannot take you where I must go. I leave the galaxy border, and the place where I travel, I cannot tell you of." Mahlon replied casually. Xander stared at him for a moment, but reconsidered what he wanted to ask and looked on ahead. "I can drop you off on Endor if you wish. Its a nice place for one such as yourself to keep hidden from the Jedi council."

"No." Xander said sternly. "I have hidden from the teachings of the Jedi council for too long. If they find me, I only assume they will try to take me peacefully. I will not be taken, and I will fight back."

"That doesn't seem to bode well with your "light side" does it? If anything that sounded like something a sith would say." Mahlon spat out rudely. The jedi looked blankly at Mahlon, then to the metal they walked on and frowned.

"That truly did sound sith. I must control myself. The dark side is a path i do not wish to travel down." He said. The conversation dropped short as they had reached the same busy market square that Mahlon caused a comotion in. A large burn mark on the ground and the shattered remains of the beserk droid were all that was left of what had happened. Mahlon looked at what he had done, laughed to himself a little bit, then continued on with Xander in tow.

"If Endor doesn't suit you, how about I drop your sorry self on Hoth." Mahlon joked. Xander managed a chuckle, and the two began to talk about the republic as they made their way through the same hallway Mahlon had hours before. They had walked a considerable length down the corridor when Mahlon's ship appeared down the long corridor upon the platform in which he had landed.

"That would be yours I assume?" Xander pointed out. Mahlon nodded at his assumption with a smirk. The Jedi seemed to be in awe of the intricacy of the ship's design, in which the assassin took some pride. The moment was short lived, for several large explosions ripped the platform from the floating city. Each blast rippled through the structure and the hallway that the two men stood. As they watched in horror, the ship plummeted downwards through the clouds to the planet below in a firey mass of melted metal and small combustion explosions from the fuel lines aboard.

"Damn them!" Mahlon yelled in fury.

"You don't have any way of contacting your superiors?" Xander screamed over both Mahlon and a seemingly endless blare from the alarms.

"Yes, I do! Follow me, we need to get out of here!" With that, the assassin broke into a sprint down an alternate corridor, Xander following as close as possible to Mahlon's superior speed.

"Where are we going?!" The Jedi yelled as Mahlon turned down random hallways.

"We're running for the nearest possible empty landing platform! Whoever was able to destroy my ship without my knowing of danger ahead of time is out of youre league, and close to mine!" Mahlon responded, punching frantically into his wrist mounted machine. His head bobbed upwards to look to see if any doors were unlocked every so often. Xander kept pushing himself to keep up with the assassin, slowly falling back every so often. Finally Mahlon found a door and went speeding through, the Jedi nomad following hastily.

"We should be safe here." Mahlon panted, shooting the door controls, locking the heavy metal door in place. Xander fell to the ground, breathing heavily and labored.They had landed in what seemed to be a large, dimly lit storage area in the city.

"I havn't ran like that in over ten years." Gasped Xander's form from the floor. Mahlon collected himself and couldn't help but laugh at the Jedi's laziness. Xander made a rude gesture in response to the assassin's poking fun, then began chuckling himself.

"Guess nobody was following us huh?" He remarked after several minutes.

"Your the force user, you figure out whats going on." Mahlon retorted while fiddling with the wrist mounted device. Doing just that, Xander closed his eyes, and took in everything that was around him, including the chaos from moments ago, and any presences that want to do harm.

"There is nothing out of the normal, Mahlon. Perhaps it was a malfunction of the platforming?" Xander asked hesitantly. He was about to add reasoning to his sentence when he suddenly reached for his saber.

"What is it?" Mahlon said quietly, dropping his own arm to his hip-mounted holster.

"Show yourself! I can sense you force user!" Xander exclaimed towards a corner blocked off by boxes shifted about. Mahlon drew his blaster and aimed towards the spot as well. There was the considerable amount of shuffling and grunts, until finally a ragged old man appeared. Old did not describe how terribly ancient and withered this man seemed to be. His face was almost a mass of wrinkles and stray hairs.

"I'll put him out of his misery." Mahlon said mercilessly and fired a shot towards the old man. The bolt did not pierce the man, but stopped dead short inches from his palm.

"I am terribly old, and pretty close to my deathbed, but perhaps one of you could possibly have the kindness to help a withering bag like me?" The man said weakly. Xander looked upon the man with pity, and walked over to the spot in which he lay.

"What could I possibly do for you?" He asked as kindly as he could. The old man pulled his robes to the side to reveal a horrid sight. His entire waistline down was missing! Where his legs and hip should have been, there was only a disk, usually used by the disabled to hover about. This one, however seemed to have been out of comission for a long time.

"Im very lighweight, and I could use some assistance moving about." The man said to Xander politely. Without a second thought, Xander took a travel case nearby and opened it up as wide as it would go.

"Mind traveling in here?" He asked. The old man pulled himself into the bag, his disk fitting perfectly inside. This allowed him to be at heads height with Xander.

"You are truly a kind one, Nomad Jedi Xander." The man said to the Jedi.

"You used the force to tell who I am?"

"Yes, but it would be rather rude of me not to introduce myself. I am known as Gallel. I have been a nomad quite some time, but you seem to be a fresh one to the customs of doing things on your own." He said in a low tone.

"Yeah, I may be. Tell me, do you have." Xander tried to ask, but Gallel cut him off.

"I have a ship still docked here, I will allow you and your assassin to use it for as long as you need." At this Mahlon coughed obnoxiously.

"Im nobodies assassin but the orginization's. If you keep it up, I'll be the one to do you in." He threatened. Sadly his threat fell on deaf ears.

"Come on lets get to the ship." Xander insisted. Mahlon had nothing to say, for he was just given a free ship. It was then Xander realized something.

"Yes I know the door is locked. Allow me." Gallel said before the Jedi could say anything. With a point of his finger, the door unlocked and slid open.

"You Jedi are some odd characters in terms of getting things done." Mahlon said. The old nomad gave a raspy chuckle as they moved onwards. After taking the directions from Gallel, they finally made it to a locked door. To the amusement of the two, Gallel spit at the panel, short circuiting it and opening the metal plated door. Inside was an old modeled space cruiser with dings and dents here and there.

"Care to pilot?" Mahlon said jokingly to Gallel as Xander walked past with him. Unbeknownst to the jedi, the nomad turned around and sneered at Mahlon. What stunned the assassin the most was not the reaction of the old force user, but the color that seemed to flash in his pupil. The color of red.


	3. Chapter 3

The rattling noise of the engines filled the docking bay as the junker ship of the Jedi nomad Gallel lifted away from the platform. The ship teetered and tottered as it made it's way past the clouds and into the vast space of the galaxy. The planet of Bespin began shrinking in the distance from the viewport of the transport ship. Xander eyed the disappearing sphere from this very window, sad to see the former haven of his melt away from his view.

"This feels different. Why do I yearn to return to the planet, even though we only just left?" Xander said quietly to himself as he slumped away from the viewport window. He looked around the interior of the craft he and his companions rode in, and took in what was there. The walls were showing signs of rust,and the material covering the floor to hide the metal beneath it was coming apart violently at some parts more than others. Racks hung on the walls, but they were cluttered with junk and random parts from different ships. Xander kept looking for something interesting to occupy himself with for the ride, but nothing seemed worth making a try for.

"We have a day before we reach Endor. I suggest you get some sleep." Mahlon said from the pilot's seat. He had turned around to look at Xander, leaving the autopilot on. "The ship's navi-computer seems to be working just fine, I dont think we'll have any problems getting there." He pulled himself out of the chair and began to walk towards Xander. He stopped at the opening to the cockpit, and looked to his immediate right. Gallel was snoozing away in a hammock strung between two racks. Mahlon frowned after looking at the frail nomad, then quickly made his way over to Xander.

"He doesn't bode well, Xander. I saw something earlier that I never would have expected from him. His eyes turned red, if only for an instant. I think he might be a sith." Mahlon whispered in Xander's ear.

"Do you make the worst possible assumptions about every possible thing, Mahlon?" Xander replied quietly. "He's only used his force powers til now, and I've searched him using the force, theres nothing under those worn out robes he wears other than the hoverdisc, and an old amulet. He doesn't have a lightsaber to use whatsoever." Mahlon sat down next to the Jedi and heaved a sigh.

"If your completely sure hes no threat, I guess I have to agree. Im still going to keep an eye on him until both of you are off this ship." Mahlon whispered. Xander nodded just as Gallel began to stir in his hammock.

"How long have we been in space, assassin?" The old man asked.

"Twelve hours." Mahlon said bluntly.

"We have only a days worth of a trip do we? Very well then. I say we all get to know each other while we sit here and wait for this trip to come to its end. Mahlon why don't you tell us about your past. Mahlon coughed loudly and then glared at the old man.

"My past and anything to do with it is none of your or anybody elses bussiness." The old man looked into the assassin's eyes, then looked towards Xander.

"Why not you Jedi? Tell us about yourself so we can stay entertained."

Xander looked at Gallel, then towards the floor.

"My past is not one to be talked about without feeling the shame of it."

At this, Gallel sent an empty oil can soaring at Xander. It impacted with a thump and Xander was left nursing a bump on his forhead.

"Tell us. We all have pasts we'd rather not speak of." The old man demanded. With this little reprimand, Xander began his tale. Even Mahlon listened in to this.

"It all began far into my past. Back to when I was just a padawan, a fresh face in the Jedi academy on Yavin four. I had been taken in by a low ranked Jedi master by the name of Seth Toun. He was a Twilek, emerald green in color, and strong in posture. He carried around with him a yellow bladed lightsaber, and always wore an odd sash around his shoulder. He would take me on simplistic negotiation missions to systems on the outer rim, and occasionally we had to defend ourselves against rather agressive welcomings. My lightsaber skills at the time were a little better than the average eleven year old padawan, and the lightsaber's blade was the color of green, very similar to the tone of my master's skin. I had a special hilt for my lightsaber though, instead of a solid shaft it had deep finger grooves to help me grasp the hilt. The blade projector lense had a special guard that extended a few inches from the hilt. It was shaped in an elegant wave pattern, and ended with an arrow tip. It truly was a work of art, and my master acknowledged my lightsaber's intricacy with enthusiasm.

After three years, on my fourteenth birthday, my master gave me a box wrapped in winding laces and bits of rare tinsil. I opened the present slowly, but secretly I was anxious. Inside, I found a small hologram projector disk, followed by a small amulet from Tatooine. I looked at my master before looking back to the disk and saw him frowning. Curious to my master's expression, I activated the disk.

"Greetings young padawn. Please make sure your out of earshot of your master after receiving this from Jedi Knight Palor Norr." Said a hologram of Jedi Master Klixx Fru. He was one of the Jedi that sat on the high council, and it was extremely odd that he would send me a message of all the padawans out there. I looked up at my master, and he looked at me from where I was sitting on the floor. His frown now seemed to have more rage behind it, and personally it terrified me.

"How come you gave it to me? I thought." I was cut off from my master yelling at me

"Don't ask questions! Go on with the hologram boy!" I played the rest of the recording at his request.

"Xander, I am Jedi Master Klixx Fru, and I'm sure you have known about me through the teachings of the Jedi. There is something I wished to tell you in person while you were at the academy a month ago. Your master, Seth Toun made sure that it couldn't happen, and left with you immediatly to Nar Shaddaa on a fake mission. I have no easy way of saying this to you, Xander, but Seth Toun has recently been found to have had Sith tendencies. He has been teaching you Jedi knowledge, but his actions in any situation involving him and a lightsaber was all due to him causing the hostilities. The major mission of being a peace diplomat at Naboo you two were assigned to a while ago, he instigated an all out war when he assassinated the Gungan chief. He claimed he was ordered to do so by the people of Naboo. You are too young to take him on your own, Xander. We want you to attempt escape, we can handle him from..."

The hologram was stopped due to my master smashing the recorder to pieces. His pupils were filled with a red glow, tinged with orange flame-like color. He scowled at me from where he stood, then bent low to come even with my face.

"No use for me to hide it any longer! I am actually a Sith, and I plan to hold you hostage until the Jedi realize their mistake of making me a master in the first place!" My master cackled. I made to stand, but he kicked me hard, sending me sprawling a few feet away. His laughter echoed in the small alcove we had been sitting in during this whole incident. I stood up and looked at Seth Toun with tears in my eyes. At the time, I couldn't grasp that my closest friend was my worst enemy, and I ran from the alcove into the open streets. Curiously nobody was around save ruffians and the occasional begger, and it was here I felt truly deserted.

I made to turn around and attempt to face my master, but he had jumped and did a flip in mid air, landing right in front of me. He took his lightsaber from his belt and threw it over his shoulder into a nearby sewer drain, to my complete disbelief. Thinking I had a chance, I drew my lightsaber and pointed it at my master's chest.

"You are under arrest for hostilities against the republic, and senseless murder." I said shakily. He looked at me with the same scowl, his fists clenched tightly. "As a Jedi, I will not harm you, but this does not mean I will not kill you in retaliation to an attack."

"Thats not how you say it, you dumb padawn. It's remain submissive and no harm shall come to you." Seth said to me in a deep growl. "Do not think I, Darth Orthus, will be taken peacefully by a mere child!"

When he said that, Darth Orthus pulled off his sash to reveal a lightsaber sticking out of a hidden pocket in his robes. He pulled it out, igniting it to reveal the familiar signature red Sith blade. As quickly as he had drawn it, my former master attacked me. He started off his attack by making a quick swing towards my abdomen. I parried, and as soon as he had pulled away he made a swing towards my head. I blocked and retaliated with a quick stab towards his ribcage. He was quick to stop my blade, and as soon as they collided the blades parted. I began to make rapid swings at his shoulder, pushing him back as he parried. Darth Orthus realized my tactics to corner him, and ducked as I made to swing again and brought his lightsaber towards my leg. I was too quick for him, jumping over the red beam of energy as it sliced the air beneath me. It was my only chance to disable him, so I took it by swinging down hard on his lightsaber arm. With a perfectly executed stroke, Darth Orthus' arm fell onto the cold hard streets of Nar Shaddaa.

My former master's screams of agony filled the air from the pain I had inflicted.

"You are under arrest, Darth Orthus." I said with a deep feeling of anger fueling my words. The huddled form of my former master began chuckling insanely.

"Im not finished, I still have another arm!" He yelled with a sudden jump to stand up. He reached out his arm as he did this, and sent a small force push at me, only enough to startle me. At the time, I thought he would use some type of Sith force attack, and I immediatly stabbed him in the heart. He smiled a weak, but innocent smile after I withdrew the blade.

"Killing an unarmed opponent is a very sith-like thing to do. Maybe my legacy won't die out...after...all." He breathed as his form fell to the ground."


	4. Chapter 4

"After that, I stood in shock, holding my extinguished lightsaber handle for what seemed like an eternity. When I could bring myself to, I brought my com-link out and called for an emergency pickup. I was found hours afterwards by none other than Klixx Fru." Xander finished. Mahlon had propped himself up against the wall, and Gallel was hanging over the edge of his hammock.

"Darth Orthus, eh?" Gallel said after a small silence. "He was a very amatuer sith if one could ever exist. I heard about him from my fellow nomads before my arrival on Bespin. They said the jedi academy awarded you a special recognition for defeating him, yes?" He asked. Xander looked up at him and nodded.

"Well if I were to have fought this "Darth Orthus" character, I probably would have dodged and ended it with my foolproof knee-mounted knife." Mahlon said from the wall. "From the story and the age you were at, I guess how you did was very well done indeed. What was the Tatooine trinket by the way?"

Xander looked up from his seat.

"That is a whole different story. It was a lightsaber crystal, and it lead me close enough to the darkside to almost be cast away from the Jedi order. Im going to save such a story for another time." He said quickly. Mahlon shrugged his shoulders and made to walk back to the cockpit. Gallel glanced over to Xander after the assassin had disappeared into the seat.

"If I may voice my opinion my fellow Jedi, I believe that you were in all aspects justified by your actions. It has made you the strong, free-willed Jedi you are today." The old man spoke in a cracked whisper from across the room. Xander grinned at the thought of being strong, and shook his head quietly.

"We have twelve hours lefts before our arrival at Endor. Care to tell us about that lightsaber crystal, Xander?" Mahlon asked from the cockpit. Xander shrugged, and cleared his throat to begin the next tale anew.

"After my unfortunate incident with my former master, I was taken back to the Jedi temple on Yavin four. There, under the supervision of the Jedi high council, I was re-evaluated and interrogated on everything and anything I knew. It was a long process that took many days, and after two weeks I had the trust of the Jedi council I was not corrupted, and was assigned to a new master. He was a graying human, short in size, but his sense of the force was second to none. He never spoke outright, and always kept to himself. If he ever spoke to me, or anyone, it was to make his point, and that was all. He was actually quite terrifying for a Jedi, and he went by the name Lorz'kth. After having him for a master for three years, we were assigned to go to Nar Shaddaa to investigate an underground smuggling ring. It was by mere coincidence that we had arrived in the same spot I had dueled Darth Orthus along our journey.

"Master, I wish to look around this spot, something disturbs me." I had said to my quiet master. He nodded and I was off towards the alcove my master and me were years ago. The spot went unperturbed by any local beggars or thieves over the past years, which to me was a relief. There was the same box, corroded somewhat around the edges, lying in the corner. I had moved to pick it up, when I felt a disturbance in the force. It wasn't coming from the box, but from where my master was standing outside. Quickly I lunged and grabbed the box, pulling it open to reveal a small crystal, orange in color. I had no time to find out what it was, for the clashing of lightsabers echoed into the alcove.

I found myself sprinting out of the small space, tucking the crystal into my robes as I went. A horrific scene awaited me as my eyes adjusted to the bright lights. My master was dueling not one, not two, but three Sith! Each enemy wore a mask to protect their identity, and black flowing robes. I drew my lightsaber, igniting its emerald green blade and swinging the deadly weapon towards the nearest sith. He turned around and blocked my attack at his back with an impressive block.

"Look gentlemen, looks like he had an apprentice after all." The sith chuckled. His conspirators laughed in unison to his words, but were cut short. My master had the two sith occupied with constant elaborate slices at their exposed strike points. Not only was he doing a good job being outnumbered two to one, but he was fast with his attacks as well! I focused my attention to the sith I had engaged, and smirked at him.

"You know, I defeated a Sith a few years back. I wont be an easy foe." I taunted the Sith with the cunning little sentence. He pulled off his mask, revealing a robotic face, save for a small portion of his forehead and an eye. The color of his skin was Emerald.

"D-d-d-darth Orthus!" I stammered. My former master gave a giant robotic laugh at my reaction.

"The Sith were able to come in contact with my ghost, and found my body decaying in a trash heap. They revived me by infusing me with this robot. As you can see, I only have my forehead left of me, but I get along just fine." Darth Orthus said in a tone of voice I didnt remember him having. "Found your gift just fine did you?" He asked.

"What is it?" I found myself asking. I pulled my lightsaber away from his, and he lowered his as well. The battle my master was having had faded away, he had taken it into the lower levels of Nar Shaddaa.

"It was my former master's lightsaber crystal. He took great pride in using his lightsaber, and when he fell in battle, I took the crystal out of the hilt. When I held the crystal and concentrated the force into it, my master's ghost would appear to speak with me. I learned a great many things from him, including the path to the dark side. He himself was a Sith in hiding right under the Jedi high council's noses. He didnt commit senseless murder recklessly like I did, but he was a man based upon his feelings. He didnt believe in being the tool of everyone else, but instead did things for himself. I thought that you could use the crystal to see both sides of the conflict, and also speak with my former master."

I looked at my former master with tears in my eyes. They burned my cheeks as they streamed down my face, falling off of my chin on to my robes.

"Why must it be this way?" I cried to him. With his only normal eye, he looked at me with a sad expression. "Seth you were and still are a good person. If it wasn't for the labels we carry, you and I wouldnt be in a conflict like this!" I found myself yelling at him as he stood there, looking towards the ground with the unchanged expression on his face.

"I'm sorry for what I did in the past Xander, I truly am." Darth Orthus said quietly. The clink of boots on metal began to fill the air as two figures robed in black appeared from a ramp leading to the depths of Nar Shaddaa.

"I assume you won." He said to the Sith. They both nodded, and all three began to chuckle.

"He froze suddenly, and Terr here sliced him in two. We kicked his remains into a ravine of pipes. Nobody will find them." Spoke out one of the Sith.

"What about this one eh, Darth Orthus?" The other one piped in. My former master looked at me, then back to his companions.

"Kill him."

The second those words left the robotic slit in his mouth, I thrusted my lightsaber through his stomach and pulled my blade upwards. My slice halved him from my point of attack.

"Never! You will all die instead!" I screamed as loud as I could. The Sith known as Terra reached for his lightsaber, but I sliced his arm off then cleaved his head from the neck with one stroke. I turned to the other foe, and he had succesfully drawn his lightsaber. I swung hard and wide at his legs. He parried, but just barely. I pulled back as quickly as I could from my attack and made a quick stroke at his hands. He parried, and at this point my rage boiled over. I began barraging him with strikes and swings to the point where my last swing towards his waist sent him sprawling to the ground. His lightsaber rolled away and fell off the platform, hitting metal pipes on the way down. As soon as he realized he was defeated, the Sith got on his knees and attempted to beg for mercy and forgiveness. I didnt have any of it, and beheaded him on the spot.

My rage had not ended, for it was still burning strong. I made after beggars and nearby thugs, killing them swiftly and without hesitation. I had almost cleared the area when a blue lightsaber blade came swinging down upon me from the dark sky. I blocked the attacker's blade, yelling as we clashed.

"Stop this nonsense Xander! Stop this immediatly!" Yelled the man, and it was then I had realized it was Klixx Fru. I didnt want to keep attacking the one man who had tried to watch over me for all these years, but somehow I couldnt stop. I found myself pulling away from our standoff, and making to stab at his chest. The next series of things happened all at once. Jedi Master Klixx Fru used the force to both send me flying across the metal, and crush my lightsaber into small shards and fragments. He then leaped to where I had landed and pinned me to the ground with his knee.

"Do you realize the amount of damage you have done to both yourself and the people around here?" He asked through labored breaths. "If I bring you back to the Jedi High Council, you will be executed! If I let you go, will you explain your actions to me?"

I nodded, which in turn he got off my chest and helped me to my feet. I then began to explain to him everything that had happened. Right up until I lost control of my actions. When I had finished my explanation he frowned and looked at me with concern.

"You must be guided down the right path, but you cannot do that now under the Jedi Council. I will send you into exile, a place where you can meet other Jedi such as yourself. They are called nomads, and they only seek to live their lives without the harm of the rulings of the jedi order." He explained to me. We spoke some more, and he told me he would take me to Cloud City in Bespin. I agreed with his idea, and we left immediatly. On the way there, he told me he would meet me as much as he could and continue to teach me the ways of the jedi order. He also handed me a spare lightsaber, but it was missing a crystal. So instead of using Darth Orthus' teacher I used it as my lightsaber's color."


	5. Chapter 5

Xander paused from his story to see Gallel was intruiged far more than he had ever been during his first. The old man was sitting upright and fully paying attention, his hoverdisk shining dully from the netting of the hammock. Mahlon too had come back into the room and sat down next to Gallel. Xander was suprised at the attention he was recieving and coughed nervously.

"Now that you mention it." Gallel burst out. "I never knew of a Jedi Master Klixx Fru. What did he look like?"

"He was an average sized human, dark skinned with long braided hair. He always had one strand of braids twisting through intricate rare pieces of jade. He was a very adept force user, and the head of the Jedi High Council." Xander responded. The old nomad looked at the Jedi, then nodded his head calmly.

"Now he is familiar, but please go on with your story."

Xander cleared his throat and continued.

"He brought me to Cloud city quickly from Nar Shaddaa. It was dark, and the landing platform we boarded was lifeless and empty. Master Klixx Fru told me he would return within several days to the very same platform, and to keep my comlink open. It took him a week to contact me, giving me strict instructions to dress casual.The day afterwards I met him on the same landing platform.This time he was wearing pedestrian clothing, and wore an alien rebreather to mask his appearance.

"I have waited for you a decent time master. What news do you bring from the Jedi High council?" I asked him. I couldn't see the look on his face, but I could feel his depression by the way he answered.

"The Jedi Council has deemed you a sith. They assume you have a sith title, and are trying to ponder what it could be. They have also sent Jedi Knights after you as well, and they have tracked you to Cloud city."

I couldn't help but gasp at this, but Klixx Fru chuckled underneath his mask.

"That is why I re-assigned them to training at the Jedi temple. You will not be followed as long as I am head of the Jedi Council. Now I will help you with your training, but only in concentrating on the force."

From there on, Master Klixx Fru trained me in the ways of the force. With his methods, he taught me how to expand my limits and become more and more adept. He came to train me in secret every two weeks. He did this for about three years, and over that period of time, my life as a nomad began to take it's toll on me. I was no longer craving his teachings, and began to not show when he came to meet me. I did not want to learn about the force, or the teachings the Jedi had to offer. I was only concerned about myself and that was it.

One day, however, he actually sought me out and found me. I remember that this time he had not bothered to wear a civilians clothing, but he was fully garbed in his jedi robes. His features were wrinkled with worry when I saw him approach me that day. I still remember the things he said to me.

"The Jedi council has stopped their search for you. They have only done this because they have focused their attention at civil unrest in the galactic government, but I have some news I have wanted to share." He said to me. I was sitting down at the time, but I had managed to stand and bring myself to eye level.

"I have been avoiding you for quite some time, Klixx. What could have such an urgency that sent you my way? I have little patience for the teachings of the jedi." I said rudely to my mentor. I meant it too, I was outraged that he tried to find me. He looked downwards to the floor.

"I trust you and only you, so this is what I shall tell you. I have found a way to avoid death." I raised an eyebrow at this, to which he chuckled. "Not the run-of-the-mill die and come back, but a way to preserve yourself. If you somehow lose a major and essential organ in battle, this very technique will teach you how to regenerate it and keep yourself alive while doing so."

I was ecstatic at the news. My faith in the Jedi and their teachings was revived within that moment. A giant grin grew on my face, but Master Klixx Fru held up his hand.

"Take your saber and lob my hand off." He said calmly. I didnt trust him, but obeyed and swiftly took off his hand. My mentor's face contorted in pain as the lump of burnt flesh that was his hand sizzled. His expression suddenly became calm and relaxed. He brought his remaining hand over the stump and began to concentrate. To my utter amazement, particles of blue light streamed from nowhere and floated downwards and cluttered into the shape of a hand. With a flash of light, the particles dissapated and a new hand was perfectly formed.

"Teach me!" I begged him. It took three days in complete force stasis, but when we had finished I had learned a technique that nobody else had a clue about."

Xander finished his story as warning sensors started to beep and wail on the ship. Mahlon was furiously typing into the console that lay beneath the steering,

"Whats wrong?" A harried Xander asked, Mahlon stopped his typing to look at the jedi.

"Absolutely nothing, the ship is just letting us know the old fashioned way that were nearing Endor." The assassin replied. Xander rushed to the cockpit to get a look at the green planet.

Giant green spots made up of endless trees covered the planet of Endor's surface, their trunks reaching towards the heavens so that even clouds were dodging them. This all didnt seem to matter to Gallel's ship as it made it's way through the hemisphere. The leaves and branches grinding and slipping against the hull as the ship made it's way into a clearing some distance away.

"Couldn't you have picked a better way to land this ship?" Gallel hollered to Mahlon as the cruiser smashed against a rather large branch.

"Shut up and let me fly old man!" Mahlon retorted loudly. The ship began to shake from the tension of branches, but suddenly it all stopped. The ship had broken free from the foilage of the forest and found it's landing point. The landing gear began to unfold and within minutes, the ship had touched the ground.

"Well we're finally here. It's too bad that I must depart from this place. The organization has been trying to get ahold of me for a while now and I can't have you two holding me back from getting there." Mahlon said from the cockpit seat. Xander suddenly noticed that the assassin's wrist mounted device was flashing and beeping repeatedly in a low tone.

"We'll be on our way then." Gallel said as he hopped into the travel pack he rode in earlier. Xander walked over to Mahlon and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Will you be ok?" He asked politely. Mahlon chuckled at this and nodded. Satisfied that his travel companion was ok, Xander walked to the back of the cruiser and heaved the travel pack onto his back.

"Ready?"

"As ready as ever." Gallel responded. At this, the jedi reached to a panel and pressed a couple of buttons. With a small hiss, the door to Endor's surface was open, and the two force users were through it.

Mahlon watched through the cockpit window as Xander made his way from the clearing into the dense forest. A sigh escaped from his mouth for the first time in days. Looking down to his wrist mounted device, he began to fiddle with it. After a few moments of tapping the screen here and there, a voice came through.

"Assassin Mahlon, have you something to report?" The voice echoed through the ship.

"Yes, I have found a Sith lord we thought to have perished long ago." He replied.

"No...That can't be! He was halved! No sith lord could have survived that!" The voice retorted violently.

"Well he did, and after listening to the story of the ex-Jedi Xander, I believe he too has found out the secret of the force." The comlink went silent, as did Mahlon. The cries of the local animal life of Endor seemed to echoe across the space in which the ship had landed. It seemed like ages to the assassin before the voice from his wrist began to speak again.

"What do you believe are our options? We can't just let him get away, and if he spreads his influence, who knows what damage may be done." The voice said declaritivly.

"I think it might be in the orginization's best interest to see what he believes is the best soil to plant his seed of destruction. I personally have confidence that I can take out the one he plans to turn. It's him that I'm worried about. He was able to use the force through the thick walls of Cloud city to destroy my ship and the docking bay it waited upon. I don't think I could take him on without the help of a jedi." Mahlon replied calmly. The voice chuckled from the speaker on the wrist-mounted device to what the assassin said.

"Mahlon, it's time you and I met face to face. I shall meet you at..." The voice began to ramble coordinates that Mahlon punched in to the navi-computer. "When you get there, stay outside of your ship, I will come to you."

"What will you look like?" Mahlon questioned. The voice let out a sigh.

"You will find out in due time."


	6. Chapter 6

The Jedi and his companion looked from the foilage of the trees as the ship they had just departed from sat silently in the clearing.

"Do you think there could be something wrong?" Xander asked Gallel. The old force user pulled at his beard as he glanced at his ship.

"There isn't anything wrong as far as the force goes. He should take off in about..." He paused as he stared at the cockpit. His carrier looked backwards at Gallel only to find that the friendly glow in his eyes had faded. They were now replaced with a shade of red.

"Gallel, your eyes are red. Are you ill?" Xander asked apprehensivly. The old man looked down from the travel sack he sat in and smiled.

"It's just the allergies. They get to me sometimes, and I wish they didnt present themselves in such a way." The old man replied softly. "Let us make our way into the forest. We need to find the ruins of K'lok, and by the looks of things we might run out of daylight before we reach our desitnation."

Xander looked about himself to find that they had wandered directly into thick woods. There were no trails to follow, no signs to show a way to any type of ruins. For the first time in his life the jedi felt truly lost. It was then that Gallel slapped him on the shoulder.

"Do not fear this forest. You are a force user, and it does not rule you. You are the ruler of it." Gallel said sternly. The old man closed his eyes and reached out with the force towards the ruins. In a mere instant, he opened them again and pointed back towards the clearing they had come from earlier.

"That is were we must go?" Xander puzzled in his head.

"No that is where the temple is. Coincidentally it is not only where we came, but underneath where we came from." Gallel spoke suddenly.

"You can read my mind too?" The jedi gasped aloud. The old man that traveled with him began chuckling to himself before answering seriously." I did not read your mind. I am always in tune with the force, and you voiced your words through it. We cannot stay here and chat, we must get back to the clearing."

The sounds of engines charging themselves began to rumble through the trees as Gallel stopped talking. The ship was beggining to lift itself from the ground, sending the local wildlife running from the noise. With a large explosion of noise from the ship, it shot off into space. The two force users watched as the orange glow from the exhaust turned into a speck in the sky before finally disappearing into the night.

"Shall we go?" Gallel asked impatiently. Shrugging his shoulders, Xander trugged back to the clearing. The sun was setting for Endor, and it now cast a flame-colored glow over the woods. The shadows of the trees began to cast themselves over the clearing, added shortly by the shadow of Xander.

"Well we're here and it seems that your sensing of the ruins was wrong Gallel. There are no pieces of rock and debris, only grass and wildflowers." Xander said annoyed. The old man on his back slapped the back of his head for the comment.

"You do not realize that we look upon one of the oldest ruins to ever be seen in this galaxy, do you boy? To you it may look like a large patch of open grass, but to the right force user, it is a gate to infinite knowledge." He preached from the travel pack he sat in. All the while Xander nursed the spot in which Gallel hit.

"Watch my boy, watch and see what no Jedi has ever seen before." As he said this, Xander noticed that Gallel's voice got stronger and deeper than normal. His weight seemed to diminish into nothing. Curious, the Jedi turned around to the amazement that the old man was now floating into the sky.

"What are you doing?" He yelled towards Gallel. The old man began to chuckle in a deep and menacing manner.

"Why, I'm opening the gate of course." Gallel paused, and at the same moment electricity began to pour from his fingertips. It arched and snapped as it surged around his body, encasing it and forming an orb. " I would advise you to step away from that small tree near you."

Xander jumped aside from the tree, noticing it just that moment. It didnt seem too out of the ordinary, but he wasn't about to doubt the warning. The old man pointed towards it, and the cocoon of blue electricity soared through the air at lightning speed. Striking the tree, the energy dissapated into thin air.

"What the hell?" Xander said to himself, but his question was soon answered. The tree began to shudder and the bark fell from it's trunk to reveal that it wasn't a tree at all. It seemed to be a giant relay antenna, and it was blinking furiously from a light near it's base.

"What you are looking at is none other than the password input device to the ruins. It hasn't been activated for use in over seven hundred years, and yet it remains perfectly operational like it was used yesterday. Now pay attention. for I know you will find the need to return here." Gallel spoke from his hovering form. He inhaled a deep, raspy breath before announceing the password.

"Eternius!" He yelled at the top of his voice. The word echoed through the nearby wood, and all manners of life went silent. Xander stood bewildered next to the relay, but moments later it stopped beeping. Instead a electronic voice flooded the clearing,

"Who dare disturb the information trove that is Sith Academy K'lok? Announce yourself!" Shouted the voice from a speaker located on the relay. Xander looked around confused until his eyes stopped on Gallel, who had floated to the ground and was hovering from his disk.

"I am the Sith Lord Gallel! Ameedius, if that is you, open the damn door!" He yelled at the intercom. The voice cackled with glee in response.

"Darth Gallel, how long has it been? Last I heard from you, it was twelve years ago when you got yourself halved. I would let you in, but you must verify the person with you. He does not seem to be with the dark side, but his mind seems to lean towards it." The voice said. Xander was sweating profusely now, his mind racing with ideas on what he should do. He noticed Gallel had finally looked over to where he stood, and tried to force a smile.

"Do not try to lie to me boy. I know you are scared, but this is where you shall find your true calling, and perhaps find your true self as well. Let go of the Jedi teachings, and embrace a more open view of the force." The old man demanded. Xander looked at him, and then towards the ground.

"Mahlon was right, you are a Sith Lord. I should have listened to him back there." he said shakily. "If there is anything I must do, I must take you down. Who knows, maybe I can destroy this sith information cove too."

Gallel looked from Xander to the relay then back again. "You can't do it." He growled.

Xander pulled his lightsaber from his belt and ignited the orange blade.

"I can't what? Destroy the cove? It cant be that hard at all. You are also unarmed, I wont have any trouble defeating you either!" He yelled arrogantly. Gallel sighed and tapped his hoverdisk with his hand. A seceret compartment door popped open to reveal a lightsaber hilt tucked away inside. The old man took it in his hand and ignited the red blade. The glow of red illuminated the silver on the sith's hilt. It's surface was scratched and scarred with mishandling in the past. The grips of leather were peeling and falling apart at odd places as well.

"I will bring you down!" Xander taunted. The sith lord growled deeply and charged the jedi at lightning fast speed. Xander had almost no time to raise his lightsaber to block the attack to his left arm. The blades cackled menacingly as they struck together and parted. The jedi pulled away to make a swing towards Gallel's exposed left side when his opponent unexpectedly spun like a top and parried his next move.

"There is no way you can win. Xander. Come to the darkside, or I'll kill you." Darth Gallel said threateningly in a deep voice. Xander grunted and pulled away his lightsaber and began to make attempts at barraging the sith lord with quick slices and thrusts. Each attempt was futile, for the underestimated old man was quicker than Xander's reflexes. The blades of the force users was a blurr of orange and red as they connected and parted quickly in the fading light of the setting sun. With a final swing towards his mid-section, Gallel blocked Xander's blade and finally decided that enough was enough. Using the same lightning speed as he did early, Darth Gallel pulled from another secret compartment another lightsaber. In a mere instant, the blade was ignited and soared through the air and through Xander's left arm.


	7. Chapter 7

The planet of Endor began to shrink quickly away from the ship Mahlon flew. From inside the cockpit, it was something all too familiar with the assassin. He was always traveling, and with heavy travel came knowledge and wisdom. It was this wisdom that made him stare off into the emptiness of space, pondering if he had made the right choice leaving Xander with the stih lord.

"It couldn't be helped." He said to himself. " He chose to become an outcast, and now that he's one of the nomads, I'm left no choice but to follow this path." He leaned over towards the navi-computer from his seat and read the coordinates off to himself. They made absolutely no sense, but for some odd reason the computer was following them. Tapping on his wrist mounted device, Mahlon attempted to get back in touch with his mysterious contact. Finally the voice from before began to flow from the tiny speaker.

"Yes?" The voice answered suddenly, startling Mahlon.

"Where are these coordinates taking me? They make absolutely no sense!" The assassin asked. The voice chuckled.

"Your almost here. Your coming within range." The voice said. Mahlon looked from his wrist to the viewport of his ship. The sight that he saw took his breath away. A small planet lay in his view, but at the same time it wasn't a planet. It was a colossal mass of ships from all parts of the galaxy, all seemingly crushed or smashed. Large capital ships stuck out like spikes from the planet, some with their bow's imbedded in the mass, and others seeming to attempt escape. No matter what ship, they seemingly were pulled towards one spot, the center of the mass.

"W-w-w-w- what is this? What happened here?" Mahlon finally spit out. The voice on the small device coughed and continued.

"I will explain everything when you have landed Mahlon. Land in the docking bay of the Naboo Royal Naval Capital Ship. I shall meet you there."

The assassin obediently pulled the cruiser into the dull faded yellow ship that was the Naboo Royal Naval Capital Ship. The doors hissed and moved aside, allowing him passage into the wreckage. As his ship entered the docking bay, Mahlon noticed that most of the ship was intact, and seemingly still functioning. His attention strayed from the surroundings to the controls as he brought the cruiser to a landing. Eagerly after touchdown, Mahlon opened the hatch door and hopped out into the cold docking bay, but nobody was there to greet him. Only the silence of space and the sounds of his ship cooling down were there to comfort him.

"Hello?" He yelled. His voice echoed around the docking bay, and all became silent yet again. He looked around to his left and his right, and noticed the skeletal remains of Naboo soldiers. Their bodies lay scattered around the ship's floor, which now presented itself as corroded and worn out. Their hands were all grasping their blasters, which were also showing signs of rust and decay.

"Saddening isn't it?" said a voice, startling Mahlon and making him pull his blaster from his hip.

"Who's there? Show yourself or I'll blow your damn head off!" Mahlon exclaimed. In response, a cloaked figure moved from the shadows and into the nearby light. Another figure followed suit, shorter but seemingly more built.

"You stand in the midst of an event so cataclysmic, so catastrophic that even the force is naught here. It happened seven hundred years ago, and I assure you it was well forgotten. Nobody realizes it, but their navicomputers all steer clear from this. Nobody knows of it except for a very small few." The taller figure pulled off his hood to reveal dark skin, and an intricate tattoo running from his chin up towards his balding head.

"Jedi Master Klixx Fru? Now there is someone I never expected to meet." The assassin said to himself as he holstered his weapon. The smaller robed figure revealed himself as well, a young boy, only in his teen years stood next to the jedi master.

"You know who I am now, Mahlon, but this is my apprentice, Let. He is extremely gifted for his age, and has always proved himself in battle. That is not the reason why I brought you here so we will get down to bussiness." Klixx said calmly.

"Wait I have a bunch of questions for you. What is the name of this place, and what actually happened here?" Mahlon spat out eagerly. Let turned to look at Klixx who nodded in return and then spoke.

"This place has no name, as far as the galaxy is concerned this place does not exist. It will never be named, but it can always be referenced. The few that know of this place call it The Site. I have come up with my own name for it though." Mahlon looked at the boy, who smiled weakly in return.

"What do you call this place Let?" The assassin asked.

"The Unfinished Armageddon. It was here that the sith lord to rule all sith lords brought the destruction about of the entire navy of every single major acting planet in the galaxy. It wasn't supposed to end there, but somehow it did. His name was Darth Eternius, and he was so skilled in the ways of the darkside that he could do anything he wanted. He had practically become a god, and with this power, he cloned his apprentice in such quantity that he created a full fledged army. Eternius used his newfound forces to attack each major planet, but his tactics appeared to be cowardly. His forces would attack the capital of the planet and the naval capital ship and then beat a full retreat. Eventually all the planets coensided with each other and gathered all their forces and attacked his small base. That used to be located at the center of this mass we stand upon now."

Let stopped and nudged his master. "You tell the rest, you make it sound better anyway." He said. Klixx laughed and started where his apprentice left off.

"What he did was a trap. Since he was the most powerful sith lord, he gained the ability to survive in open space without any sort of protection. Like my apprentice said, Eternius was practically a god. He stood outside of his base, which was positioned on an asteroid. There he waited as the massive fleet showed as he had forseen. They began their massive attack on just him, and at the last moment, it is said that he ripped a hole in space. This was no ordinary black hole, for it not only compressed and destroyed everything, but it also pulled in all the force as well. That is why here, me and my apprentice are powerless. We can only use our sabers, not the force. It literally does not exist here. Well all went to hell when he did this, and everything was being destroyed and sucked into the black hole, when something unexplainable happened. It all stopped, and everything just stayed where it was. Survivors were able to flee the ships, but none spoke of it ever again." Klixx finished. Mahlon noticed that both Jedi were extremely saddened by the loss of the lives.

"What do you think happened Klixx?" Mahlon asked curiously. The dark skinned jedi looked into the assassin's eyes and heaved a sigh.

"We came up with several theories. Our first was that he could not control what he had unleashed and was pulled into the black hole, destroying it. The second was that a valiant Jedi killed him, but was destroyed in the process. Our most believeable one is that he only imitated a black hole, and used the force to pull all the ships inwards on one spot. The sheer power and magnitude of this act is what tore the force from around this very mass. Since we are without the force, we cannot sense what is at the center. The metal surrounding it is too dense for scanners to pick up anything past the surface."

Mahlon looked around at the floor as Klixx spoke, and when he had finished stopped in front of a pile of black cloth. The assassin bent over to pick it up, but the cloth disinegrated in his palm.

"Then the organization I've been working for, it's all been a lie?" Mahlon asked weakly. Klixx sighed lightly, and Let turned around to bury his face in his hands.

"We made up the organization in order to get the services of the most talented warrior in the galaxy. It brought us you, and you executed your orders perfectly." Klixx said in an elevated voice over the sobs of his apprentice. Mahlon felt his heart drop in his chest, and fell to his kness in disbelief.

"I thought you were a Jedi. It's against the jedi teachings to endorse killings. How could you do this?" Mahlon yelled at the tall jedi. The brow of Klixx Fru wrinkled in frustration.

"Because we had to. Each person you were ever assigned to kill knew about The Sight. For instance, your latest kill, K'lork, planned on releasing information to the galactic senate. If he had done that, the entire galaxy would seek to plunder this place of it's secrets. It couldn't be allowed, and thats why you had to take him out. We did not want to do it, but it was under the best decision by the jedi order."

A hooded figure popped from the same corner the other two had and walked towards the light that shone upon their group.

"The reason we brought you here was to expose the truth to you, Mahlon. We did not do it to destroy you morally." The figure said with a deep voice. Under the hood a large bushy beard hung down to the belt of the being, its color was a fire red. "We came here to convert you to the light side Mahlon, and with it we have some news. Your blood is rich with the midichlorians that make one adept with the force. We want to help you become a strong jedi knight, and we will show you the true nature of the force. Will you accept the offer?"

Mahlon raised his eyebrow, to which the figure pulled off his hood. His hair was completely red, it's length ran down around his shoulder, and was braided intricately. His face was a cheery one, his cheeks rosey and plump with a smile on his face and in his eyes.

"My name is Marxis Grant. I am the leader of the jedi order, and I ask you once more. Do you accept the offer I present to you?"

Mahlon stared deep into the eyes of the jedi master, and could not find a single trace of evil or corrupt nature.

"I guess I have no choice, I accept." The assassin said quietly. Marxis looked from the kneeling form of the man before to Klixx Fru. The master nodded, satisfying Grant.

"You are an assassin no more. May the galaxy never label you as Assassin Mahlon. Henceforth, I hereby bestow the title of Jedi Apprentice upon you!" The Jedi master announced so that his voice echoed off the walls of the landing bay. Mahlon smiled and felt a little lifted inside. "Now let us depart from this place, the lack of the force is truly a drain on us Jedi. It is like trying to learn how to walk again. There is no good feeling to it at all. Mahlon you may leave your ship as well, we shall provide you with all the transport you will need." Marxis concluded and began to walk back from where he came. Klixx brought Mahlon to his feet, and with Let following closely, they followed suit.


	8. Chapter 8

Xander blinked heavily as bright light began to shine from an overhanging lamp above his head.

"Where am I?" He wondered. The light had somehow began to darken, allowing the force user to look around. He was laying on a solid slab of rock, perfectly cut and formed to resemble a bed. The room was all cut from a dark marble, and extremely cold. Statues of hooded sith loomed beside a door to Xander's left, each with large glowing red rubies for eyes.

"Hello?" He yelled, and then it all hit him. He remembered swinging his lightsaber and stopping Gallel's attack, only to watch as the sith lord drew a hidden lightsaber and dismembered his arm. He lifted his severed arm to find that nothing was wrong with it, and that there were no lesions of any kind.

"Do you think your the only force user who knows of force restoration?" The voice of Darth Gallel eminated from the doorway of the stone room.

"Gallel, why do you spare me? Why didnt you kill me?" Xander asked in a puzzled manner from his stone bed. The sith lord walked closer to the bed, and the sight of him with legs made Xander jump.

"Ha ha ha, I used the technique on myself, and since I no longer require the disguise of being crippled." He pointed to the now visible hoverdisk laying in a corner. "I must say that it was truly something to bring back my legs. I havn't needed to exert such power since when I was halved long ago."

Xander looked at him like he had severeal heads and the sith lord laughed again.

"Don't you remember a long time ago, you once had a teacher that never spoke unless to give advice?" Gallel asked as he leaned backwards on to the stone wall near the door.

"Yes, and dont you dare ever mention Lorz'kth. He was ten times the force user you will ever be!" Xander yelled angrily from his now sitting form.

"Please don't waste your time, but your anger is very good. We can surely use that soon. Did your teacher say something to you before your arrival on Nar Shaddaa? something he wanted you to remember as long as you were not a jedi master?" Gallel asked in a smart tone. Xander looked from Gallel to the floor and answered.

"He did, he said it on the shuttle to Nar Shaddaa. He said 'The youth is wasted on the youthful." Xander went to say more but was stopped by Gallel cutting in.

"Take in everything you can." Xander looked directly into the eyes of the sith lord, and they stared back. "Still not getting it are you? Maybe this will shed some light." With that, Gallel pulled a lightsaber from his hip and twirled it around, trimming the long beard he had with precision. When he stopped, a fully trimmed and now shortened beard remained.

"No, you have to be kidding me. There is no way your him, its impossible!" The shocked force user screamed from his bed of stone. Gallel smiled darkly at this outburst.

"Those sith that attacked you and me on Nar Shaddaa were after the secret entrance to Fortress K'lok. They came in three only due to the fact that I am the last remaining Sith lord aware of the existence of this hidden cove. It would have been a futile attempt even with them all focused on me. Xander it has always been in your nature to follow in the footsteps of the dark side. Why not join me, and together we can train you to expose your true potential? I can make you into the most powerful sith in the galaxy, possibly even as powerful as Darth Eternius was centuries ago!"

Xander could not believe what he was hearing, but it felt so invigorating to him. His spirit felt like a fire had been lit, and it was growing quickly.

"Lorz'kth, I am your tool, and as your tool I shall do what you want. I shall conquer any foe you command. I will follow you to the ends of the galaxy, as long as you promise me to make me invincible." Xander said. He noticed his voice grew deeper as he spoke, but he paid it no mind. He felt like the entire galaxy had opened up to him.

"Kneel before me and accept your title, Xander. You shall wear it like a badge, but your badge will be greater than the others." Spoke Gallel firmly and astutely. Xander knelt downwards in front of his new master and lowered his head. "You have shown yourself worthy and being taken under my wing. You slayed my former apprentice Darth Orthus many years ago, and have shown that you are up to any task I may assign. I hereby bestow upon you the rank of Sith apprentice. Now rise Darth Lexax, rise and take your place by my side!" Declared Gallel. Xander stood from his position and bowed to his new teacher.

"What the hell? You bastard! how dare you replace me with this scum? I'll show you he's nothing but a washed up Jedi!" Screamed a figure that had suddenly appeared in the doorway. It was a scrawny Twi'lek, and it ran in at full force with lightsaber drawn in and ignited. Xander drew his lightsaber and blocked the attack of the thin alien. With a malicious grin, he pulled back from the parry and kicked the Twi'lek out into the hallway. The alien was sent sprawling from the force of such a blow and collided head-first into the wall. Xander ran into the hallway after the dizzied form of the Twi'lek, anger filling his blood. Eagerly he raised his lightsaber above his head and brought it down on the alien, who miraculously blocked it at the last second. The Twi'lek pulled away and made to sweep Xander from his feet, but to no avail. The sith jumped and made to kick his foe, who also dodged quickly. With a sickening sizzle, the lightsabers clashed together as Xander attempted to remove his opponents arm.

"Give up and die!" Xander declared viciously from behind his blade. The Twi'lek cackled and mouthed the word never before pulling away hastily to make a stab. Xander twirled his orange weapon and parried the attack. With another firm kick, he sent his opponent farther down the hallway. The alien recovered quickly and shoved his hand out facing the wall. The entire enviroment went completely black, save for the two blades that now floated in the air.

"Lets see you fight in the dark, Sith wannabe!" The alien said through bated breath. Xander held out his lightsaber in front of him, pointing it towards the red beam of energy that was his opponent's. His tired enemy brought his lightsaber high above his head, sweat and despair leaking from him profusely. The two sith charged with a large yell, and clashed. Xander blocked the Twi'lek's swing towards his head and pulled away. Bringing his lightsaber backwards, Xander swung with all his might. The orange lightsaber glided through the alien's hip and diagonally upwards to it's shoulder, ending the battle. The sith apprentice stood panting over the corpse of the Twi'lek, until a clapping ensued from the room they had left. He turned to see Gallel and a truly scrawny old man putting their hands together for him, and for the first time in his life, Xander truly smiled at the feat he had accomplished.

"You passed your test quite well, Darth Lexax. You have proven that you are the ideal sith, and a wise choice on my end. Now follow me, and I shall show you something few sith here are allowed to see. The archives await you to plunder them for their knowledge, and also give what you know in return." Gallel said authoritively. Xander walked back to his master and bowed.

"I didn't truly need my skills in order to defeat him master. He was weak, and didnt deserve life. I would not have liked him to defile this fortress any further." He said in a dark tone. Gallel chuckled darkly, Xander and the scrawny old man joining in.

"First we need to fetch you proper garments. You are to always wear black cloaks in these halls. A white robe underneath a black cloak is worn only by instructors. Black robes are to be worn along with the cloak. We have an elite force here of sith assassins, and upon the backs of their cloaks they wear a symbol etched in gold. Each symbol represents the force power they excel at. Only a sith can see these symbols and it leaves us with a great advantage in battle. As you can see I wear a brown cloak, and this is because I want to. If you have the power to make people accept what you wish to wear, then use it. You will fight fellow sith often, but if you truly want to establish yourself, take out an instructor. Here in Fortress K'lok we encourage those that wish to advance to a spot to take the life of the occupant of said spot. Unfortunatly through that teaching we have lost many good instructors. My spot as the leader of the sith is quite covetted." Gallel said with a snicker.

The lights of the halls were dim, but illuminated enough to allow sight of where to go. The three sith walked along the passageways into a room with sith tailors making robes.

"Get yourself measured." The silent sith that was next to Gallel said sternly. Xander walked over to a tailor and began to get measured.

"Who are you anyway?" The sith apprentice asked rudely. The old codger used the force to send a pair of cutters swiftly into Xander's leg. The apprentice screamed out in pain and turned to face his assailant.

"My name is Ameedius, and you will learn to watch your tone with me or face the consequences!" He hollered at a now ruffled Xander. Leaning down, he ripped the blade from his flesh and healed it using the force. Gallel walked from Ameedius and put his hand gently on Xander's shoulder.

"To the archive with you, Darth Lexax. We have much work to be done." He said reassuredly. Xander grunted in agreement and walked with his master towards an elevator that had opened itself near the back of the tailer shop.


	9. Chapter 9

The small artificial planet shrank away from the jedi cruiser as it made it's way towards Coruscant. The stars whizzed by the windows as Mahlon stared out into space. Never in his entire life did he even dream he was capable of weilding the force. Now he was in a jedi cruiser with both Klixx Fru and Marxis Grant. Two of the most powerful jedi ever to come into the jedi order.

"Were almost to Coruscant, my apprentice." Marxis said with his signature smile from across the room. He leaned lazily on a small bar that protruded from the wall, his eyes gazing into Mahlon's very soul. Feeling uncomfortable, Mahlon turned to look back out into space and found that not only stars greeted him, but other ships too. Many different sizes and shapes flew past the window as the cruiser made it's way towards the city-like planet.

Mahlon looked to his right now focusing his attention on Let. The small apprentice seemed too perplexed with the view of the ships to notice the former assassin's gaze. His eyes spotted a large rusted piece of metal sticking out from beneath Let's robes. It was his lightsaber, and seemed too large for a small child to weild.

"Where did you get that lightsaber Let?" Mahlon asked kindly. Let snapped out of his stare and patted the hilt gently.

"I found this in The Unfinished Armageddon when I was ten. That was the first time me and master Klixx went there. He was investigating the mystery shrouding the metal planet, and I was curious to see the ship we were in. I went off exploring the ship's interior and found a small living quarters. There was wreckage everywhere except for a corner of the room. There was a skeleton slumped against it. It was wearing an almost completely destroyed pilots suit, and it was holding this saber in one hand and a blaster in the other. I took both weapons and had them analyzed. The saber originally belonged to a jedi knight, and from the looks of the situation, the pilot must have gone rogue and killed him." Let paused and pulled the hilt from his belt and ignited it. A beam of white growled noisely in front of Mahlon's eyes.

"Its nice isn't it? The jedi knight who weilded this must have believed his soul was pure and made this saber white. It comes in handy when there is no lightsource around too." Let finished, extinguishing the blade and re-holstering it to his belt.

"Were here." Marxis said suddenly. Giant buildings and skyscrapers began to rush into view from Mahlon's window. He could feel the ship slowing as it neared the landing pad. With a loud thump, the jedi cruiser came to rest outside of the jedi temple. The jedi masters made to exit, as did Let. As the former assassin began to rise from his chair, he noticed a glimmer of gold on the back of Let's robe. Immediatly dismissing it as a ray from the sun, he finally exited the ship.

"That was quick, Master Marxis. How are we so close to this artificial planet and yet so unaware of it's presence?" Mahlon piped up from the doorway of the cruiser. The fiery bearded jedi turned around and smirked at his new apprentice.

"There are satellites that orbit The Site. They linger on the borderline of the abyss, using the force to trick all that look towards it into believing there is a moon there. It also is responsible for making ship engines fail that are unauthorized to enter past the satellites." With that, Marxis turned towards the temple and strode towards it with pride. It was then that Mahlon took in the sight of the temple. A large tower stood directly in the center of a giant building. The walls were carved with runes and symbols of peace in the language of different alien races. A giant statue of a jedi stood high above the building, a lightsaber drawn and pointing to the stars.

"I never thought the jedi temple would be such a place of dignity and respect." Mahlon said flabberghasted at the beauty that surrounded him. Klixx stopped walking towards the building and turned to face Mahlon.

"Through the doors behind me, you shall start your life anew as Jedi Apprentice Mahlon. No longer will you be an assassin for hire, but instead a servant to all of the galaxy. You shall become a warrior for the peace, and a bringer of justice. You can turn away now and continue your ways, and we shall give you that chance." Said Klixx Fru sternly. The former assassin shook his head and walked past the jedi master.

"I'm eager to see what I have to do as part of my training." Mahlon said calmy. Klixx snickered at this and quietly picked up a stone. With all his might, he chucked it at the back of Mahlon's head. The jedi turned around and caught the projectile before it could hit him.

"If that was a test, it failed. I have alot of experience behind me. I could hear you picking up this rock." Mahlon declared, dropping the stone.

"That wasn't isntincts, Mahlon. You sensed the rock coming, and you reacted quite well. Only jedi knights can sense things like that, and I believe with that in mind we can set you off training with lifting objects." Klixx looked about and found a loose peice of metal laying on the pathway. "Lift this with just using the force. Close your eyes and picture the piece of metal. Then let the force flow through you, and attempt to life the metal."

Mahlon closed his eyes and did exactly what Klixx told him to do. Without being told to do so, he lifted his arm towards the metal instinctivly. A loud clank ushered from the metal as it hit the pathway wall and floated neatly into the air. Mahlon opened his eyes and watched as the floating object twirled in the air before his hands.

"This is completely astounding!" Klixx Fru exclaimed."No being has ever mastered the force so quickly! We must tell Master Marxis about this!" In his jubilee of excitement, Klixx almost ran towards the doors of the temple, Mahlon in tow. A giant brass airlock door met them, and with the noise of several locks releasing, the door slid open to reveal a gentle metal interior. Mahlon followed his lead as they made their way down a long hallway. Doors of different sizes lined the corridor they walked speedily down. A few of them were opene and the curious new jedi attempted to look into them as they walked.

Several of the doors showed rooms of training, where younglings sat with their mentors, attempting to use the force. Others showed living quarters, either empy or occupied by conversing jedi padawans.

"Alot of these jedi are just children. Where are all of the jedi knights?" Mahlon asked attentively.

"Their either farther into the temple, or their out on missions. Please keep up, I wish to make it to the tower before Marxis makes a debriefing." Klixx said urgently. Mahlon found himself trying to keep pace with the jedi master, but one last open door caught Mahlon's attention. Inside he saw Let, Klixx Fru's apprentice, but there was someone with him inside the room. The jedi paused and looked inside. Let was standing next to a lifesized hologram projector, and being projected was an alien clothed in black robes and a black cloak. It was a Trandoshan, and a tall one at that. It's scales were cracked and broken all around it's face, and it seemd to be missing an eye. Suddenly the door shut on Mahlon, and he was cut off from the sight.

"Something isnt right here." Mahlon said to himself before running to where Klixx had disappeared to. He rounded a corner to find that Klixx was holding an elevator for their need. With a nod, they both walked into the elevator as the doors shut, sealing them from the halls.


	10. Chapter 10

The elevator hissed and clanked with wear and tear as it made it's way deeper into the planet of Endor. Xander stood sternly next to his new master, Darth Gallel. Letting out a sigh, the sith apprentice sat down where he stood. Gallel looked down at him with a glare and kicked him hard.

"What the hell was that for?!" Xander exclaimed, jumping up from where he sat.

"No apprentice of mine is going to sit down anywhere without my permission. You will do well to ask before you do anything in the manner of relaxation. Do I make myself clear?" The dark lord spoke sternly. Xander gave a nod while he nursed his side. After standing in silence for several minutes, the elevator finally slowed and stopped. With a large rattling noise, the door slid away and revealed a large room. It seemed to have been there for ages, broken statues littered the ground around their pedestals. Stalactites suffocated the ceiling above the two sith as they made their way through the room.

"I want you to behold, Eternius' supercomputer he built himself!" Gallel said proudly. He stopped next to a statue of a lizard and pulled down the head. The cave wall in front of them began to flicker and fade, until all that was left was an enormous screen. From the floor in front of it a large slab of rock parted to reveal a large keyboard. The screen flickered to life with a picture of a cloaked sith lord.

"Why is this person on the computer screen?" He asked puzzled. The dark lord laughed at the question and punched a few numbers into the keypad. A label came up next to the picture, reading Darth Eternius.

"Like I said before, Eternius built this computer himself! Thats not all, look! I reveal to you your fellow classmates!" Gallel yelled loudly. The dark lord reached downwards and punched in a series of commands before the entire screen was filled with thousands of tiny mugshots. Each human or alien seemed to all be tinted with grey, and red letters lined the bottom of each. Only seven pictures were in full color, but he had no time to look closely. A picture stood out from the rest, and was all too vivid of a memory. Close to the bottom right hand corner of the screen there was a picture of a Twi'lek.

"Darth Orthus..." Xander said quietly. Gallel turned to look at him and gave a distinct grunt.

"He was the most amatuer of all sith to ever come from this academy. He wanted to become one of our best assassins, but he failed miserably. Do you remember that night when the three sith attacked you and me?"

"How could I forget master?" Xander replied sarcasticly.

"He was there with Kallu and Retor. Also amatuer sith I may add. He had come to attempt to persuade me to allow him to hold the title of assassin. I obviously refused and he began his attack. If you hadn't stepped in when you did, I would have drawn my second saber and ended the conflict there. It would have exposed me as a sith too early, and it helped me greatly for you to show up."

Xander walked closer to the screen and looked more carefully at the photo. It was also greyed out like the rest, and also had the red lettering that the others did.

"Deceased." Xander said in his head. The words were clear now, and the sith realized that it was the same for all of the other greyed out pictures.

"Where are all these people again?" he asked. Gallel turned from the console and smiled.

"Why their all training in the dorms, of course! Were attempting to create a sith army to overthrow the jedi order and establish ourselves as rulers of the galaxy." The dark lord said. His apprentice walked away back to his side and looked around the screen again.

"Who are the people that are in the colored photos?" He asked. The dark lord hit a button and seven colored pictures pulled themselves from the grey and enlarged to fill the entire screen. The two pictures on the left of the screen were Gallel's and Ameedius'. They were followed by a Trandoshan, who looked to be older than dirt, a human male, thinning with a scar down the center of his head, and an extremely attractive red haird woman. After her picture was Xander's, but it lacked the evil tone, and seemed softer than his features now.

"That photo was taken from the Jedi archives when I still taught there. We will update it in due time." Gallel said as he followed his apprentice's eyes. Xander looked from a photo of himself to the final picture of a very young boy in his teenage years. The child also looked to have soft features. Suddenly it became apparent to Xander that there were symbols next to each photo except for his own.

"Could you tell me what those symbols mean master?" He asked curiously.

"They represent what ability they have mastered. As you can see, Xxxyrx, our trandoshan assassin, has a symbol of a closed fist. He specializes in force choking his victims, and thats how hes been for ages. I specialize in using lightsabers, hence why my symbol is the hilt of one." Gallel responded. Xander began to lose interest and turned away from the screen.

"I assume thats what's on the back of their cloaks?"

"Indeed, and it is in the color of gold."

Xander nodded and walked over to a bust of a sith lord, his left hand side of his face was missing.

"Darth Lumanor, he was one of the best we ever had come out of this academy." Gallel said from over Xander's shoulder. The apprentice jumped back in fright at his master's startling appearance.

"How did he die?" Xander asked a little rattled. Gallel picked up the other half of the bust's face from the ground and placed it in his apprentice's hands. The half was riddled with bumps and tumors, completely disfiguring his face.

"He caught a terrible disease, and we couldn't find the cure. As a final request he asked to duel me before he died. I parried his blade only once before his brain failed, and he collapsed in a heap on the floor. We cremated his body and shot it off into space with sadness in our hearts. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be off to oversee the training of my pupils. Your room is on floor D12. Please go there and await my orders." Gallel said sternly before stomping off into the elevator. The doors closed as the transportation device made it's way upwards towards the surface.

"How very odd" Xander said to himself, as he waited for the elevator to return. A person came walking out from a corner of the room and began to pick up the pieces of the statues. the sith noticed this immediatly and walked over to the man that was stooped the floor.

"Hey those are ancient artifacts! Leave them be!" He yelled down at the person. It paid him no mind and continued with his bussiness uninterrupted. In a surge of anger, Xander drew his lightsaber. In a single swing, he brought the blade upwards and through the figures neck. The head dropped off and hit the floor with a clang! Smoke and sparks began to pop and sputter from the spot he swung through.

"An android? That's just ludicrous, but then again, the computer only shows seven people alive. Could it possibly be that Gallel is insane?" Xander asked himself. Seeming to be a response to his answer, the elevator re-arrived with a light buzzing noise. Pondering what was really going on, Xander made his way to his dorm room.


	11. Chapter 11

The elevator ascended quickly towards the top of the tower. It's passengers, Klixx Fru and Jedi Apprentice Mahlon, watched as the windows showing off the skyline whizzed past them.

"Master, I saw something back there you might want to know about." Mahlon spoke for the first time since he asked about the jedi knights.

"It will have to wait, the news I must tell Marxis is more pertinent." Klixx said in an authoritive tone. The jedi apprentice looked away from the dark-skinned master and focused his attention at a cruiser hovering above the jedi temple. It only stayed where it was for an instant, then took off speedily towards space.

"Now you will get to meet the council. It is I, Marxis, then Master Dio. We also have several jedi knights that respond only to the council, but they never report directly here unless it is a dire emergency. If I can persuade Marxis to allow you to train with a lightsaber, perhaps we can make you a jedi knight yourself!" Klixx announced excitedly. Mahlon felt his heart racing himself. He had never weilded a lightsaber, and always dreamed of doing so. With a rush of wind, the elevator doors flew open. The jedi learner didnt realize the elevator had come to a halt, opening it's doors to the open room that was the council chambers.

"Welcome to the council chambers, Mahlon. I felt in the force that you lifted a sheet of metal with ease." Echoed the voice of Marxis grant from the opposite side of the room. The two jedi walked from their means of transportation into the open room. Mahlon turned to look back at the elevator and noticed it slid down into the floor until it had dissapeared, replaced by a metal plate. The jedi noticed now that the room was circular and wide, with a large chair in front of where he stood. A third of the way around this circular room another chair sat, and vice versa to the last. Klixx walked towards the chair that lay to Mahlon's left and sat down briskly.

"It is a pleasure ta finally meet yeh. Marx jus filled me in on the news. Welcome teh the jedi odah." A bald and extremely long faced human spoke from the seat left of Marxis. His brow jutted over his eyes and his chin was heavily clefted. He also bore the same smile that Marxis did, but with half as many teeth. He stood from his chair and walked over to shake Mahlon's hand, in which the jedi responded politely by returning the gesture.

"Mahlon wos it? We avent seen such a gifted user of deh force like you in ages." He continued.

"This is Jedi Master Dio, a proud and noble jedi. He is one of the best and deserves the seat he sits in." Marxis piped up from his chair.

"Oh stop yer nonsense, yer gonna make me blush!" Master Dio said with a hearty laugh. Mahlon noticed that all the jedi masters were laughing, and found himself doing the same.

"As a Jedi, you must have the tool of the jedi. Mahlon I wish for you to craft your lightsaber and meet me at the dueling chambers. Master Klixx will escort you. I will remain here and speak more with Dio, but rest assured he will be with us to observe you." Marxis said with a smile behind his beard of fire red.

Within minutes, Mahlon was brought to a giant room, completely black except for a dull path of light that led to a chair and a hovering workstation.

"When you sit down, Mahlon, the parts will come to you in order of assembly in order to guide you into creating your saber." Klixx said from the doorway to the room. With a wave of good luck, he close the door, eliminating all light completely. Mahlon made his way promptly to the workstation and sat down. Suddenly giant racks of lightsaber hilt tubes flew down in front of the jedi. The action suprised him, but he looked around after a small amount of time and found a perfect length tube. After selecting it, a robotic arm brought the tube down to the work station and placed it on the desk. The tubes withdrew and in their place racks with grips appeared.

"This sure beats buying weapons in the old days." Mahlon said to himself as he picked a pair of tan leather grips. The robotic arms took the peices and with perfect precision cut spots for placement on the hilt. The process was quick and entertained Mahlon like he was a small child. He spent the next few hours picking and pondering what should go with his saber until finally it was almost complete. The jedi stared down at the masterpeice that was his lightsaber with pride. It had a titanium metal hilt that was as long as his forearm. Two tan leather grips lined the hilt, along with the usual bit of buttons. At the saber's base there was a onyx stone with the galactic symbol for strength carved deep into it's surface. The emitter of the lightsaber had a guard of bronze, and extending from below the guard, a talon rose and jutted above the emitter like a lethal threat to those that opposed it's weilder. All that was missing was the color stone to give the lightsaber it's characteristic.

"I've always had such a damn hard time deciding what my favorite color was." Mahlon said to himself.

"Try this." came the voice of Marxis over the jedi's shoulder. The jedi master stood there pointing at a stone that was completely clear and devoid of any colors.

"Why would I choose such a lifeless stone?" The jedi found himself asking. Marxis put his finger to his lips and put the stone in Mahlon's hand. It began to pulse emerald green in his hands, and the jedi found his jaw dropping.

"It is a stone that gives your lightsaber the color that best reflects your personality. It is extremely common with the sith for them to determine their allegiances, but I believe it will help you by giving off your personality." Marxis said softly with a smile. Without hesitating, the jedi apprentice took the stone and handed it to the robot assembler, which automatically inserted it into the saber and sealed it. Mahlon picked his completed lightsaber from it's assembly desk and ignited it. The long green blade of energy pulsed and hummed gently as the jedi held his weapon.

"It's time we go to the dueling chambers, Jedi Mahlon. I shall teach you the basics of dueling, and there I shall also teach you that the lightsaber is not only a weapon, but a tool." The fiery bearded master said, and away he and his apprentice went.

An hour later, Mahlon was dressed in traditional training garb for dueling, and stood in a large room surrounded by a glass walkway for others to view the session. A small group of younglings stood with their faces pressed against the glass, their teacher eagerly looking from behind them at the new arrival. Master Dio and Klixx were there as well. They looked on with pride at the scene before them.

"Master, I feel embarassed to have these kids watching me." Mahlon said with sarcasm. Marxis chuckled at the comment, but stopped and became serious.

"Draw your saber Mahlon, and come at me. I do not care how you attempt your attack, but do not hold back." Marxis said sternly. The great jedi master pulled his lightsaber from his robes. It's golden hilt shined in the artificial light as he ignited it's yellow blade. Mahlon drew his saber and ignited it as well. With a yell, he ran at his master and swung at his shoulder. Marxis slowly swung his blade and connected, stopping Mahlon in his tracks.

"Whenever you attack an opponent, especially a sith, if you connect sabers and it is a succesful parry, you must pull away immediatly. If you should not, they will, and while your still putting force behind your attack, they will come around your blade and end you. When you pull away make an attempt at another opening, only if you are the quicker. If you are weakened, or if your opponent is more diciplined in speed, then go on the defensive and parry an attack of his. Now try again." Marxis said in an authoritive tone.

Mahlon stepped away from his master, and charged again. This time he made for Marxis' belly with a stab. The red-haired master twirled his lightsaber and sent Mahlons attack away. Remembering what his master said, Mahlon pulled back from the parry and swung at his opponent's ribs. Marxis' blade stopped his attempt quick as lightning, and the jedi found himself pulling back quickly and attempting another attack at his master. The lightsabers clashed and cackled as once again, Mahlons attempt to stab his master failed.

"Your a quick learner, my apprentice. Make another attempt, I would like to let you practice more." Marxis grant said with his signature smile.

"Allow me instead." Came the voice of none other than Let. Marxis looked at the young apprentice and bowed, allowing him to have the floor. The young jedi walked over and stopped where the jedi master previously was. A smirk lined his face as he pulled the old lightsaber hilt from his robes.

"You better be prepared, Mahlon. Im not a pushover like Marxis." Let said menacingly. He ignited his lightsaber, the blade a blur of pure white as Let began to attack Mahlon. Let began to wrecklessly barrage the jedi with attacks toward his vitals. Mahlon was new to dueling with a lightsaber, but it was becoming more and more difficult to parry his opponent's attacks. With a sudden heavy swing to his head, Mahlon brought his saber upwards and stopped the white blade from striking.

"This doesnt seem much like training does it?" Mahlon said in a smart tone. Let scowled at the comment and brought his saber from their lock and swung into Mahlon's right arm. The attack was too fast, and the jedi feared that his life was going to end, when suddenly a blue blade ingited out of nowhere and stopped the blow.

"Master!" Let gasped. Master Klixx Fru had ran from the observation deck and stopped the attack just in time. His face was lined with confusion and anger at the sight of his apprentice taking advantage of a learner. Let pulled away from the lock and extinguished his lightsaber. Without another word, he ran from the training room and towards his dorm.

"I think something is going on with that boy, something bad. Don't you sense it too master?" Mahlon asked through heavy breathing. Master Klixx Fru looked away, and without another word walked towards the jedi masters who stood at the corner of the room.

"Go back to your dormitory room and meditate, Mahlon. We need to discuss these events." Marxis said in a sad tone. Without anything else he could do, Mahlon reluctantly obeyed and made his way to his chambers.


End file.
